MSFT: Here Comes Xbox Tablet, Says TheVerge

By Tiernan Ray

Tom Warren of TheVergethis morning writes that Microsoft (MSFT) is working on a tablet for video game playing, with a 7-inch screen, that will be called the “Xbox Surface,” borrowing from the name of the company’s video game console, citing multiple unnamed sources.

The device is in “initial planning” stages and Warren gives no time frame for an arrival of such a device. Microsoft declined to comment, he writes.

The device may use a chip based on the technology ARM Holdings (ARMH) licenses, or it may use Intel‘s (INTC) chip architecture, writes Warren. It will have a stripped-down version of the Windows operating system, his sources tell him.

Warren writes that the device is being sheltered within the more secretive development environment used for making the company’s Surface tablet computer, which went on sale last week. Developers at some Xbox facilities are under “lockdown” by Microsoft to provide them greater privacy while they write for the tablet, writes Warren.

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.